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The [Monday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

I haven’t solicited donations in a long time, and I hate doing so, but if you are so inclined, now would be a good time. Thanks.
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Wet Governor
“In his first term leading one of the nation’s most racially diverse states, Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s appointees to government boards and cabinet positions were overwhelmingly white and male, a WBEZ investigation has found.

Earlier this week, Rauner boasted of commanding a highly diverse workforce in his administration and for his re-election effort. He sought to contrast that record with the discrimination lawsuit filed by campaign staffers for JB Pritzker, his Democratic challenger in next month’s election for governor.
On Wednesday, Rauner said, “Our administration has a huge number, and I’ve appointed many African-Americans to key boards, key leadership positions in our departments, and many Latinos as well.”
But WBEZ’s analysis of Rauner’s own state employment reports reveals that blacks, Hispanics, and Asians are far scarcer in the Rauner administration than in the overall population of Illinois.


In fact . . .
“Hispanic activists once successfully sued the Rauner administration to learn more about its hiring practices, quickly suspecting that minorities had relatively few opportunities with the state under the first-term governor.
“Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia, a Democratic Cook County commissioner and former Springfield lawmaker, was the plaintiff in a lawsuit to force the Rauner administration to abide by a state law that requires the governor to provide an annual accounting of all state board appointments by race and gender.”
Click through for the rest.
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Is “white” what Rauner means when he touts his re-election campaign slogan “Our Home. Our Fight?” Because I’ve always wondered who the “our” referred to. Seems like a dog whistle to me. Unless he means private equity investors.
Harvest Swoon
“As farmers harvest soybeans across Illinois this month, a key question has emerged: Where will they put them all?” Claire Bushey writes for Crain’s.
“The harvest is predicted to surpass the record set last year, creating mountains of the fuzzy pods, which go into everything from miso soup and soy lattes to animal feed and biodiesel fuel. But the state lost its best customer this summer when China imposed a retaliatory 25 percent tariff on U.S. soybeans. Shriveled demand left last year’s crop sitting in storage elevators, and the price has plummeted. Farmers want to hold onto their soybeans until the price improves, but they have to find a place to put them.”
Thanks, Trump.
Galaxy Goof
“‘The Standard Model as it stands cannot possibly be right because it cannot predict why the universe exists,’ said Gerald Gabrielse, the Board of Trustees Professor of Physics at Northwestern University,” the Daily Galaxy reports.
I don’t follow. Physics models don’t tell us why, they only tell us what. Why is outside the realm of this particular branch of science.
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FYI, “Gabrielse is the director of the Center for Fundamental Physics at Low Energy.”
I confess, I didn’t know there was a center studying my lifestyle.
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New on the Beachwood . . .
After Budget Cuts, The IRS’s Work Against Tax Cheats Is Facing “Collapse”
‘Provided you’re not a close associate of President Donald Trump, there may never be a better time to be a tax cheat. Last year, the IRS’s criminal division brought 795 cases in which tax fraud was the primary crime, a decline of almost a quarter since 2010. Business owners don’t pay $125 billion in taxes each year that they owe.’
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SportsMonday: Bears’ Real Goat
His name isn’t Nagy, Trubisky, Fangio or Mack.
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Eisha Love: A Trans Woman Of Color In Chicago
“Love was incarcerated in a men’s jail after acting in self-defense. Now, as she rebuilds her life and continues to process the impact of her incarceration, she faces the challenge of trying to get a steady job as an out trans woman with a criminal record.”
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We kind of called it . . .
The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #222: The Cult Of Vic Fangio
State of the Bears. Plus: Bulls Season Peaks In First Quarter Of Opener; What’s Up With Corey Crawford And Brandon Saad?; and AL Rules.
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TrackNotes: Crushing The Breeders’ Cup
Now we wait.
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Frederick Douglass: Prophet Of Freedom
“There has not been a major biography of Douglass in a quarter century.”
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Recall! Caito Salads And Bowls
These items were shipped to retail locations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri.
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For completists, there was no column on Friday.
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ChicagoReddit

Best bar/club to rage at Sunday afternoon / evening ? from r/chicago


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ChicagoGram


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ChicagoTube
Capitol Night Club commercial (1995), 4244 North Milwaukee Avenue.

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TweetWood
A sampling.


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Surveil this.

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Posted on October 22, 2018